With the big Simpsons marathon on FXX starting tomorrow, we decided to take a look at Lisa Simpson, the voice of reason within the chaotic Simpsons family. To some, she’s an irritating liberal scold, to others, she’s the glue that holds the family together (her and Marge, anyway). No matter where you fall on the Lisa spectrum, no one denies these fifteen episodes showcased the growth of the smartest Simpson.

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“Moaning Lisa” – Original Air Date: February 11, 1990
This was the first episode that gave us the indication that Lisa might feel things a bit deeper than the rest of the family. In the first few episodes, she was barely distinguishable from Bart, but here we see her emotions start to be explored as we find her hit by a deep sadness for reasons that even she doesn’t totally understand. Marge tries in vain to cheer her up, but it’s when she tells her it’s okay to not smile, and that she should let her feelings out, that Lisa actually starts to feel happy again. Plus, we get the first appearance of Bleeding Gums Murphy, who tells Lisa that she’s a pretty good saxophone player “for someone with no real problems.”

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“Homer Vs. Lisa And The 8th Commandment” – Original Air Date: January 31, 1991
When you live in a family like the Simpsons, having a moral compass can be rather difficult. That becomes true here, when Homer steals cable, and Lisa wrestles with the idea of her father doing something immoral. Lisa’s nightmare of the family burning in hell is truly disturbing, and gives us a strong idea of the anxiety she’s feeling. In the end, she stands by her beliefs and convinces Homer to uninstall the cable, but not before he laments missing the big boxing match, thereby saving his soul “at the worst possible time!”

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“Lisa’s Substitute” – Original Air Date: April 25, 1991
Probably the most famous Lisa episode, and one of the best of the series. Lisa feels a deep emotional connection to Mr. Bergstrom, primarily because he seems more like the father she should have than her actual father (it’s also a bit of a crush). It’s painful to watch every dumb thing Homer says in this episode, because you know his intentions are completely good, he’s just clueless. When he finally gets it right at the end, and Homer and Lisa make up, it’s hard not to tear up just a bit.

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“Lisa’s Pony” – Original Air Date: November 7, 1991
One of the paradoxes of being such an intelligent 8-year-old is that while Lisa is aware of many of the world’s harsh realities, there are times when she’s just as much of a dreamer as any kid. And like many eight-year-old girls, she would really like a pony. Homer buys her one to make up for not getting her a new saxophone reed in time for her big recital. In this episode, you feel heartbroken for both of them. You understand Lisa’s initial anger at her father, as well as Homer desperately wanting Lisa to love him. Eventually, when Lisa understands just how much Homer is going through (his scenes working at the Quik-E-Mart are hilarious), she does the only logical thing and gives up the pony. But not before she and Homer become a lot closer.

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“Lisa The Beauty Queen” – Original Air Date: October 15, 1992
For the most part, Lisa has a fairly positive view of herself. In this episode, a terrible drawing of her on roller skates gets the better of her, and she begins to believe that she’s ugly. This is yet another episode that focuses on the relationship between Homer and Lisa, as Homer is desperate to make Lisa feel better about herself, so he enters her in a beauty pageant. Later on, the episode changes tone and becomes about Lisa using her influence to take a stand against issues that matter to her. Naturally, this annoys the powers that be, and Lisa is forced out thanks to a convenient error on Homer’s application (“In the area marked ‘do not write in this space,’ he wrote ‘okay.'”), but while Lisa loses her title, she regains her self-esteem, and learns a lot about herself.

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“Lisa’s First Word” – Original Air Date: December 3, 1992
You could argue that this is more of a Bart episode than a Lisa episode — it shows how he dealt with Lisa’s arrival into the family — but it’s an important origin story nonetheless. Plus, it’s heartening to know that even when young Bart hated Lisa’s guts, she was still crazy about him.

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“I Love Lisa” – Original Airdate: February 11, 1993
In this episode, Lisa’s empathy gets the better of her. When she sees poor Ralph crying on Valentine’s Day because no one will give him a Valentine, she feels awful, as any caring person would. But when Ralph develops an intense crush, and Lisa lacks the ability to let him down easily, it boils over until she explodes telling him she never liked him at the worst possible moment (“You can actually pinpoint the exact moment where his heart rips in half”). Naturally, all is well at the end of the episode, as Lisa and Ralph become friends, and after a stirring performance as George Washington, Lisa realizes that while Ralph isn’t the smartest kid around, there’s actually a bit more to him than we thought.

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“Lisa Vs. Malibu Stacy” – Original Air Date: February 17, 1994
We already saw Lisa’s activism take shape in the second half of “Lisa The Beauty Queen,” but this is where that aspect of her character really begins to take shape. When she’s disappointed by the sexist catchphrases delivered by the new talking Malibu Stacy doll (“Don’t ask me. I’m just a girl.”), she decides to take action. Her epic rant about what this doll will teach young girls is one of her best moments in the history of the show, and it’s heartening to see the amount of work she puts into creating her own toy doll. While it naturally gets destroyed by the next Malibu Stacy (“she has a new hat!”), she’s encouraged to know that at least one little girl will be inspired by its message.

But even though the title is Lisa on Ice that episode was equally Bart-centric as Lisa-centric, if not even moreso. It was about him dealing with her success and their sibling rivalry more than it was about her.

True, but you can make the same argument for Lisa’s First Word… Plus, Lisa on Ice has “Me fail English? That’s unpossible!” So it’ll always be a winner in my book for an episode that was propelled by a Lisa storyline.

I use this quote all the time: “I’ll keep it short and sweet. Family, religion, friendship. These are the three demons you must slay if you wish to succeed in business. When opportunity knocks, you don’t want to be driving to a maternity hospital or sitting in some phony-baloney church. Or synagogue.”

Lisa the Vegetarian has always been, and remains, my favorite Simpson’s episode of all time. It is not always a popular oppinion, but I quote that episode at least 3 times a week:

“Oh boy, [insert mundane activity]! That’s where I’m a Viking!”
“Do you remember when you lost your passion for this work?”
“It’s just a little dirty. It’s still good, it’s still good!”
“Rock stars. Is there anything they don’t know?”
“I’ve got the prescription for you, [my wife]. Another hot beef injection!” /immediately falls asleep

Some of these lists make me a little sad. It reminds me how capital A Amazing the first 9 seasons of The Simpsons was and how episodes used to actually be about something as compared to the modern day episodes.

One fairly cromulent Lisa episode from the recent seasons: “The Book Job” from Season 23. Lisa was relatable as someone who wanted to write a story but did everything she could to avoid writing. And Homer calling Neil Gaiman “British Fonzie” was great.

“I’ll keep it short and sweet. Family, religion, friendship. These are the three demons you must slay if you wish to succeed in business. When opportunity knocks, you don’t want to be driving to a maternity hospital or sitting in some phony-baloney church. Or syn-ag-ogue.”